Reality Breakdown
by milkahasii
Summary: When Seattle gets attacked Carly and Sam seem to tick off. They make the gang escape their home in time to see a giant flying object crash into Bushwell and destroy it completely. The girls pull out their guns and put their lives on saving their little family. But will they succeed? &what will happen after that? Will the gang survive the attacks and even save Seattle? Seddie/Cibby
1. Chapter 1

1)  
Sam Puckett awoke with a start. Her heart was racing from the nightmare she'd just had. This time it was not the monster that ate her soup - that one had vanished since Spencer cured her -, this one was way worse. She had dreamt of death and walking zombies, no ham at the stores and a breakdown of Wahoo-Punch-Industries. The blonde shuddered. She kept dreaming weird things, since she started that programme. That stupid, stupid programme that made her lose her precious sleep. Although it had gotten better. She had to admit that at least. Sam groaned and rolled over to take a look at her alarm clock. 4:13 AM. She groaned again. In those one and a half years since she and Carly started the programme Sam had lost her ability to drift into sleep effortlessly and sleep as long as she wanted to. Sure, she still took naps whenever she could, but that was necessary if one considered that she hadn't slept a whole night through for 1.5 years straight. Sam sighed and got up from the couch. At least the nightmares had become less. While they hunted her every single night a year ago, they had now been reduced to monthly occurrences. The blonde opened the Shay's fridge and took out a bottle of Wahoo Punch. At least you're still there. She thought and gulped it down quickly. Sam threw the empty bottle away and paused for a second. Should she go upstairs and look if Carly was awake? She had those sleeping problems, too, but if Carly was actually sleeping, Sam didn't want to wake her. She knew, sleep had become a rare thing for both of them. Hadn't Carly dragged Sam along to her silly "self-defense-lessons", that her father, Colonel Shay, had come up with, she wouldn't be in that kind of trouble. But on the other hand, Sam knew that she couldn't be angry at the brunette for taking her. If she had to face this whole mess alone, she would have gone crazy a long time ago. This way Sam could share the madness of the events and make her feel better when she thought she couldn't take it anymore. To have someone to talk to was a gift, that the two girls had discovered to be the greatest they were blessed with. Other members of the programme couldn't just talk to their friends about the things that were troubling them, like they did. Sam was glad she and Carly were in this together after all. Lying down on the couch again, she grabbed her phone. 2 new messages. Lazily she opened them. One from Freddie and one from Carly. Sam frowned. What would the nub want? She looked at the time he had sent it. 2:00 AM. What was he doing up at a time like this? Sam sighed. He must've been watching Galaxy Wars for the bazillionth time. Or even the bazillion and first. The blonde opened the message.

From: Nub - 2:00 AM Stop making fun of me, Puckett! Galaxy Wars IS amazing and there's nothing you can do about it! Ha! The iCarly-viewers just decided that! Hahaa! You lose! :D

Sam snorted. He was just such a geek.

To: Nub - 4:18 AM Oh get over it, nub. Our normal viewers must've been out, having a FUN TIME on a FRIDAY NIGHT. Only the geeks and nubs of the world seem to have answered that. :P You lose, I win.

She texted back, grinning evilly. Now what did Carly want again? Sam switched conversations.

From: Carly - 4:16 AM You up?

Sam sighed.

To: Carly - 4:19 AM Yes. Be right there.

She sent her and got up from the couch, stretched and tiptoed up the stairs, not wanting to wake up Spencer. Sam grinned at the thought and got her phone out of her pocket.

To: Nub - 4:20 AM We gotta do WakeUpSpencer some time soon. Didn't do it in a looong time!

Sam stopped in at Carly's door. Quietly, she gribbed the doorknob and turned it. The room was dark and Sam carefully tippled into it. "Carly?" She whispered. Nothing. "Carlyyy." she said, a bit louder this time.  
"Sam?" Sam heard a rustling of blankets and a millisecond after that, bright light invaded the room. When her eyes adapted to the light of Carly's bed light she could see her friend sitting bolt upright in her bed. "Did I wake you?" the blonde asked cautiously, "You sent me that text, I didn't suppose-"  
"No!" Carly interrupted her quickly. "No, I was awake. Did I wake you up?" She asked, a tiny hint of guilt in her voice and her eyes.  
Sam shook her head no. "Good." Carly sighed in relief. "I can't sleep."  
Sam grinned. "I figured as much." She went over to her best friend and sat down on the bed beneath her. "Why can't you sleep?"  
Carly sighed again, defeated. "I don't know. It's like my body wants to but my mind says no. It's running about you and Freddie and Spencer and Gibby... I just can't figure out what bothers me."  
Sam laughed humourlessly. "I know what's keeping you awake. Could be those weird things that we were told a year and a half ago."  
Carly nodded. "Yes, maybe you're right-"  
"Of course I am."  
"- But I it's gotten worse lately." she ended her sentence, ignoring Sam's interruption. "I know what you mean. I had a new nightmare just few minutes ago. It's my third this month. They were down to one, man!" Silence engulfed the two girls. It was not an uncomfortable, but a heavy silence. Could Sam's repeated nightmares and Carly's nervousness maybe hint something? Something that was about to happen soon? Could it be that what they feared for over a year would happen? Sam gulped. "Y-" she cleared her throat, "You wanna watch a movie?"  
Carly nodded. "Love and Glitter?" Sam nodded. "Sure."  
Tss. She thought to herself. A year and a half ago I would have nearly puked when looking one of that terrible chick-flick movies and appreciate rather a zombie or splatter movie. Something Samish. But now... I can't bear it.  
It was true. She had always hated to watch those girly movies with Carly - although she did watch them with her, because she ate Carly's bacon and could crash there whenever she wanted - and even enjoyed movie evenings with Freddie and Gibby, because they would watch action movies with her, but she couldn't bear it anymore. Since a year and a half ago, she was told something, that required absolute discipline not to freak out about and those action movies seemed too real to her now.  
Sam sighed as Carly shoved in the dvd and climbed back into bed. They snuggled under the blankets and watched as Ashton Kutcher and Channing Tatum tried to impress a girl that would never talk to them while their true loves where right beside them. The usual bla bla. "Oh if life would be just as easy as they make it seem." Carly sighed. Sam looked at her friend. Carly had changed much since she entered the programme. Sure, she still looked the same and they were their sparkly and cheery selves whenever they were live on iCarly, but apart from that, Sam noticed that she had changed. She was more serious. Not as giggly and even not as happy anymore. Carly was trying, really trying to keep her giggly-ness up, but you could see that she was not in it with all her heart when she laughed at Spencer's sculptures and Freddie's nerdiness. The spark in her eyes had vanished. And it was exactely that what made Sam worry. Carly had always seen the good in people and only she herself had seen the bad in people as well, but now... Now Carly saw things different. She looked at the world with sadness and even nostalgia in her eyes. As if she always had the thought of how long the world would stay the way they knew it in the back of her mind. Sam thought so herself very often. But she had always been the one to see the bad things, not Carly. No, never Carly.  
Said brunette swallowed. Carly didn't exactely pay attention to the movie they were watching. She knew it anyways. She had watched it a bunch of times with Sam, Freddie, Spencer, Gibby and most likely every boyfriend she had ever had. It was her favourite movie after all. No, Carly was thinking. She was thinking about how her blonde best friend had changed. She would never have directly said yes to that movie without complaining a year and a half ago. Furthermore, she would never look at her and Freddie, at Spencer and Gibby and even at Mrs. Benson and T-Bo so often, a sad look in her eyes. Carly knew she had changed pretty much herself, but what was expected of you, if you got those kind of news? But Sam's behaviour worried her. Sam had lost her spicyness. She didn't fight with Freddie as much as usual, didn't give as many wedgies to Gibby and the other geeks at school and wouldn't make as many feisty comments during rehearsal. Those news had gotten Sam Puckett to worry. She wasn't her open, free minded, self-confident self anymore. Sam Puckett had never worried about anything before it had happened for as long as she had known her. But now, that was different. What could they do? It wasn't like their doomsday was sure to happen. It could be that they got old and died before their worst fears came true. Could they really stand a life full of worrying? Carly gulped. Or would the worrying about everything wear off with the time? Possible. But not for sure. Carly snuggled against Sam and she actually snuggled back. The girls had grown a lot closer since their attendance at the programme. Sam had gotten more emotional and Carly enjoyed that. Carly on the other hand had gotten less daffodil-ish and Sam liked that. They had a big secret to share that had changed their lives forever, having only one another to help to comprehend and manage to live with it.

The morning came sooner than they wanted it to come. And it came in the form of Freddie Benson barging into Carly's room. The brunette boy stopped a second to see his two best friends snuggled up in bed together and smiled. They looked angelic. Not that they weren't pretty when they were awake, but everybody looked angelic when asleep. Well, almost. He had spent the night with Mr. Henning on the Root and Berries Retreat in eigth grade and that man was not angelic when asleep but rather sheer disgusting. Freddie shook his head and shuddered at the memory. "Sam? Carly?" He asked quietly, trying to wake them not as brutal as Sam would. He supposed he'd have to ask several times again, but the girls surprised him. They shot up in Carly's bed, turning heads franticly. "What?!" "What happened?!"  
"We're awake!" "Where are they?!"  
Freddie raised his eyebrows at them, clearly amused. "Are you guys all right?" he snickered, his laptop tugged under his arm, eyeing them suspiciously. "Freddie?!" Carly asked confused. Sam's head shot in the direction Carly was looking.  
"Benson?!" Freddie gulped. "Y-Yeah?"  
"What did I tell you about waking Momma?!" she growled.  
"'D-D-Don't wake Momma up unless you want her to rip you into pieces or somebody actually died.'" he repeated her words.  
"Correct." Sam said. "So, who died, Freddisson?"  
Carly laughed as Freddie fled out the door at high speed. She loved their constant bickering. She knew, she shouldn't approve of it, but sometimes it was just too much fun to see what would happen next.  
"You trained him well." She giggled. Sam's curls flew around, as she turned her head to look at her best friend, a spark of hope in her eyes which disappeared as soon as she locked eyes with the brunette. "Sure." She shrugged. "Since you seem to have lost your spell on him."  
Carly was a little surprised, but as she thought about it, she had to admit, that Sam was right. Freddie seemed to have gotten over his crush on her. The puppy-dog-face hadn't worked in a long time and in arguments he had stated his honest opinion instead of trying to please her. "It was about time. The boy is 17!" She said also shrugging. The girls got up, dressed and went down for breakfast. "Morning girls!" Spencer greeted them as they came down the last few steps.  
"Morning." They both mumbled, yawning. "What time is it, anyway?" Sam asked. "10 AM." Spencer said from his place at the stove. "What?!" Sam yelled. "Where is that nub?! If I get my hands round his neck-"  
"We're having ham and bacon for breakfast, you know..." Spencer trailed off. He knew how to avoid Freddie getting hurt and tame Sam in one sentence. She was like his second little sister and little brother at the same time. "Well... if that's so... bring the ham!" Sam demanded celebratory.  
Carly and Spencer grinned. This was so Sam.

Right after breakfast, Freddie stuck his head into the Shay's living room.  
"Yoyo." He said insecure.  
Sam's golden curls flew through the air again, as she faced her frenemy and shot him a glare.  
"You're lucky, Benson, Momma has eaten so much, she's too lazy to hunt you down now." She said and turned around again.  
Freddie exhaled deeply. "Good, then I can tell you what I wanted to tell you this morning." He said and stepped in.  
"Oh noo." Sam said, Carly elbowed her.  
"What do you have for us, Freddie?" she asked sweetly. Same old Carly. But Sam knew better. By the look in her eyes. This was just her being polite. Her head was already stirring again with the troubling truth and the fear she knew just as well.  
"Last night's iCarly broke our records again!" He said cheery, showing them his laptop. "What?! Wow!"  
"That's great!" Carly and Sam exclaimed and smiled at him. If he just knew, how unimportant that actually was to the world. They spent the day with Gibby and Freddie, planning the next iCarly, hanging out at the Groovy Smoothie where T-Bo desperately tried to sell them burritos on a stick (of course, Sam made Freddie buy them and finished them off alone) and watching Girly Cow on the Shay's couch. They were only interrupted by the usual. Spencer setting something on fire and Mrs. Benson who stormed in to have Freddie - and surprisingly today Gibby, too - instructed about the emergency exits of their appartment, because she would be off to her night shift at the hospital. Carly eyed Freddie questioningly. "Gib's spending the night." He said shrugging. Carly nodded and turned her head. Sam had zoned out again. She could tell by her glazed eyes and the fact that she was not laughing at her favourite Girly-Cow-joke. Carly nudged her lightly. Sam's head shot up and she looked with big, confused eyes at her best friend. "What?" she mouthed.  
"You were zoning out." Carly whispered. Sam nodded and sank back into the couch. Freddie and Gibby were soon saying their goodbyes, the next day was school after all.  
"Why does your Mom approve of Gibby spending the night on a sunday?" Sam asked surprisingly curious.  
"My Mom's visiting my grandma with Guppy and won't be back until tomorrow." Gibby said. Sam and Freddie raised an eyebrow at him, looked at each other, then Sam shrugged. "Whatever. Get out now, Momma needs her sleep."  
Freddie and Carly rolled their eyes and grinned while Gibby looked taken aback.  
"Just trying to be helpful." He muttered and turned to leave.  
The two brunettes laughed at their friends. "Night. Don't let Sam eat you." Freddie joked.  
"Not gonna happen." Carly said and closed the door behind him. 


	2. Chapter 2

Something was buzzing. Buzzing inside her head. Was it one of those stupid nightmares again? It didn't sound like a helicopter or anything. What could it be? Sam was confused. She felt like she had barely slept, when she tried to open her eyes. The lids were heavy and it took her an unusual amount of effort to open them. The Shay's living room was dark. Carly had asked her many times, why she wouldn't sleep upstairs with her in her room, but Sam preferred the old couch. It reminded her of good times. Not that they hadn't had good times in Carly's room, but she felt at home in that living room more than anywhere else.

The buzzing was still there. And suddenly a thought struck her sleepy mind. Her heavy lids shot up in fear and she grabbed her phone, wishing for it to be the source of the sound. But it wasn't. The digital clock on her phone read 23:02 PM and Sam gulped.

With shaky hands she searched through her bag and found what she was most anxious to find. The buzzing sounds were evoked by a little black beeper. The blonde gulped again and turned on the lights.

Please, please, please, please. Oh please, please, please,please. She thought. It was becoming her mantra while she struggled with herself, building up the courage to look at the little screen.

C red. MB ASAP. All.

Code red. Mail back as soon as possible. All members.

Sam took another shaky breath. What Carly and she had feared the most for over a year, what made them lose sleep and live through nightmares asleep or awake was eventually there. She began to shake and felt a lump begin to form in her throat. Sam bit her lip. Hard. The taste of her own blood brought her back to reality. No. She couldn't let the fear take over. Not now.

"Carly?!" she wanted to shout, but all that came out was a rasping sound. She cleared her throat fast.

"Carly?!" Sam's voice boomed through the quiet appartment.

"Sam?!" Carly's panicked voice reached her immediately. "Did you see?" Carly was on the top of the stairs in a splitsecond, holding her black little beeper tight in her hand.

Sam nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, okay. Just as we planned it, okay? You go get Freddie, I'll wake Spencer. And remember to pack food and stuff!" the brunette yelled as she hurried back to her room to dress.

Sam nodded, although Carly couldn't see her. She took off in a blur, changing into her black uniform, packing some food into her one-shoulder backpack and clicking it back in place. Then she ran over to the Benson's.

The lock was picked in a matter of seconds, way quicker than it would take the nub to wake up and come to the door. Sam tiptoed through the dark appartment. It wasn't necessary, she would wake him up anyway, but it made her feel safer.

She opened the door to his bedroom and took a peek inside. Darkness combined with a little light from outside. Cautiously she tiptoed in and over to his bed. The street lights made it easy to find her way without tripping over clothes that were lying on the floor. When did that boy get so messy? She stood right in front of him. A year and a half ago it wouldn't have bothered her to just throw him out of bed. But since sleep had become such a rare subject to her, she would always have let him sleep. He looked so peaceful, not aware of the horrors to come. Sam sighed, sat beside him and turned the bedlight on.

"Freddie?" she whispered, wanting to wake him as gentle as possible.

He frowned. Sam smiled. The boy looked cute. She was allowed to say that, they were best friends after all.

"Freddie, wake up." She said a little louder this time and brushed his arm with her fingertips.

His eyes fluttered. Confused he looked at the blonde demon on his bedside.

"Sam?"

"Hey." She smiled gently.

"What are you doing here? Are we doing WakeUpSpencer tonight?" he asked with his adorable sleepy voice and rubbed his eyes. Okay, maybe she did have a soft spot for him.

"No, dear, I'm sorry."

Freddie froze and lowered his hands from his eyes to look at the girl sitting on his bedside. Was that really Sam Puckett there? Or was it Melanie who was messing with him again? Or was this all a dream? He pinched his arm inconspicuously. Ouch. It was not a dream. He looked at her closely. Her eyes were sad, but warm. She wore... a leather outfit?!

"Sam? What's wrong?" He said, slight panic in his voice. "Are you all right?"

Sam sighed. "No. Now listen close, nub. You need to get dressed, fast. Then take a backpack and pack as much food and water as you can. A small first aid kit would be good, too, I guess. Small, you heard me? You need to be ready to leave in fifteen minutes."

She got up from his bed.

"What? Leave? Why? Where are we going?" he asked confused. "And what about Gibby?"

"Gibby?"

"He's spending the night."

"Good. Get the Gibster, too. You two pack and be ready in fifteen minutes, you heard me? Fifteen minutes, Benson." She turned to leave, but stopped at his door. "And take your small digicam. We'll need it." She turned again to face the door.

"I'm sorry you have to live through this." She said quietly, then opened the door and left his room.

Freddie was confused. What was the matter? Was this really not a dream? He pinched his arm again. Definitely not a dream. He didn't know what was going on, but seeing Sam so... so different made him doubt not a word she said. He jumped out of bed. He had to get ready for whatever was going on.

Fifteen minutes later Sam, Freddie, Carly, Gibby and Spencer met in the hallway between the appartments 8D and 8C. Carly and Sam were both wearing black leathery outfits, looking nervous but nevertheless determined, while the boys seemed just confused as hell.

"What is going on here?!" Spencer asked for about the millionth time in the past 20 minutes.

"Okay, listen, Spencer! I told you, I can't tell you!" Carly told him.

Spencer was about to say something, when Sam cut him off.

"What about your Mom, nub?" Sam asked, eyes growing big in realisation.

"What about my Mom?" Freddie asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"Where is she?" Carly interrupted their bickering.

"At the hospital, I told you, she's at the night shift."

"Oh, of course." Carly said, blushing a bit out of embarassment that she didn't remember Mrs. Benson bursting into her appartment earlier that evening.

"Give me your phone." Sam said.

"What?!"

"Give. Me. Your. Phone." Sam repeated. "We need to call your Mom!"

Freddie didn't understand, but was wise enough not to argue with the blonde and just took his phone out and dialed his mother's emergency number.

"Yes? Freddiebear, is something wrong? What happened? Is your special spot itching again?" Mrs. Benson's voice rang out of Freddie's phone. Freddie frowned and blushed in embarassment, because Sam had put the speaker on loud.

"Mrs. Benson, it's Sam!" She interrupted the weird woman.

There was a pause on the other side.

"Sam? Is something wrong with Freddie?"

"No, no Mrs. Benson, Freddie's fine, he's right next to me. I-"

"Prove it." Mrs. Benson demanded, cutting Sam off. The blonde growled, she wasn't used to be handled like that. However she held the PearPhone towards Freddie to speak into.

"Mom, I'm right here, I'm fine," Freddie said, "Just listen to what Sam has to say."

Silence. It seemed that Sam waited for a sign from Mrs. Benson to continue.

"Fine."

"Okay, so listen, Mrs. Benson, you need to stay inside the hospital. There's... trouble coming to Seattle and maybe your way. So lock yourselves up there and keep it quiet, did you hear me?"

"All right. Thank you for the warning, Samantha." Mrs. Benson said. Then she screamed away from the speaker "Tessa! Tell the ambulances we're full! Lock everything up! There's... a tornado or something moving our way! We need to secure the patients!"

Freddie stared at his phone.

"Your Mom's a really good liar." Sam said, approvingly. "How can you two be related?"

He shot her a glare.

"What about Freddie?" Mrs. Benson was back. "And about you?"

Well, that shocked Freddie and Sam, as well as the others standing around them, to say the least. Mrs. Benson, asking if Sam Puckett was safe? The girl that had caused her precious son physical and emotional pain too many times to count?

"Er-" Sam stuttered. "W-We'll take care of him. We'll be at a Safety Spot in no time."

"All right."

Sam was about to hang up, when the woman on the other side of the line spoke once again, her voice thin.

"Promise me, Sam?"

Sam bit her lip. It was hard and not sure yet if they would really make it. But that wasn't Mrs. Benson's problem.

"I promise." She answered and hung up, handing Freddie his phone back.

Silence engulfed the friends for a moment.

"What's just happened?" Spencer asked stunned.

Freddie, Gibby and Carly shrugged and shook their heads, flabbergasted.

"Sooo... What's giong on here?! You, dragging us out of bed in the middle of the night, Freddie's Mom being nice to Sam and all?!"

Carly groaned. "Spencer! I told you a million times, I CANNOT TELL YOU! Not unless-" She stopped immediately.

"Not unless what?" Gibby asked curious. He wanted to know what was going on. The girls had dragged them out of bed with such panicked expressions on their faces. Was the production of Girly Cow about to stop?!

"Not unless you see what you shouldn't see. Otherwise we'd have to kill you." Carly said quietly.

"You? Kill us? Pfft, Carly please, you couldn't hurt a fly even if you wanted to." Spencer said sarcastically.

"Yeah, whatever, else I have to kill you." Sam said dryly.

Freddie gulped. "Well I believe her, Spence."

Spencer gulped as well. "Y-yeah."

"Freddie, do you have your camera with you?" Carly interrupted the killing-conversation. It could become reality sooner than they may wanted it to.

"Yes."

"Can we live-broadcast without your laptop?"

"Well, I could get onto the iCarly-server with my phone and -"

"Good." Sam cut him off. "Broadcast. Now."

Freddie looked very confused, but the girls didn't bother.

"Can you make a connection on the way?" Carly asked.

"No, not if you want the connection to be fast and last for more than ten seconds."

Carly sighed. Sam growled in the back of her throat, starting to pace up and down the hallway.

"Why do you want to broadcast now, anyway?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, all the viewers will be asleep." Gibby wondered.

"Because there's no other choice." Sam said to the point. No further questions allowed.

"Aaand we're live in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

The girls jumped in front of the camera.

"Hey, I'm Carly."

"I'm Sam. This is iCarly." Sam and Carly spoke way faster than usual and they weren't their giggly selves, but sounded rather hounded.

"Okay, listen, iCarly-viewers. We know that it's late, but we can't do anything about that." Carly apologized.

"This is serious chizz, so listen close." Sam said, being pushier than normal.

"The area around Seattle is not safe anymore. So please, don't go outside. Stay inside your houses and lock yourselves up!" Carly said. A dull rattling could be heard from somewhere. Sam's and Carly's eyes flew to the ceiling.

"This is no joke, you understand?!" Sam said almost sounding desperate which was highly unusual for her.

"Okay, this was it, we don't have any more time. Listen to us and stay save!"

"Hopefully, until next time."

"And we're clear." Freddie said confused.

"What the hell was that about?" Spencer asked, sounding a little scared.

"Has everything been broadcasted?" Carly asked Freddie hecticly.

"Y-Yes, but why-"

"Good. Let's go, then." Sam said and she and Carly broke into a run for the elevators.

"But- Hey!" The boys sprinted after the two, who - much to their surprise - didn't use the elevators, but the stairs.

"Why are we running and why are we taking the stairs?!" Gibby shouted at Carly and Sam who were already a story below them practically flying down the stairs in high speed.

"The elevators are too risky." Sam shouted over her shoulder, not bothering to slow down.

"When the electricity's off we'd be stuck!" Carly explained.

Spencer wondered. He was already out of breath, but the boys and even Carly and Sam who usually moved as less as possible - apart from their self-defense-lessons - were not even panting. Gibby was tall and well... heavyset. But even he didn't pant yet! What was wrong with those kids today? Was he just getting old? He really needed to start working out after all that weird night-adventure would be over.

Eventually they reached the lobby and as if on cue, the lights went out.

"Damn it." Sam swore under her breath.

"Stay still. I'll sneek a peak." Carly said.

"But-" Sam protested, but Carly cut her off.

"They'd see your blonde curls in the night more bright than my brown hair. It's safer for all of us." Sam nodded and Carly took off, tiptoeing to the lobby's doors. The boys looked at Sam curiously, but she gave them a look that told them to be quiet. Carly opened the door just a few inches and stuck her head out. After a few seconds she returned to her friends, cursing silently.

"Damn! They come flying down the street! How do we get out of here?"

Silence engulfed the friends for a few seconds. Then it was Sam and Freddie who seemed to move at once. Their heads turned towards each other.

"The fire escape!" They whispered.

Carly looked at them funny, but shrugged it off, saying: "Brilliant. We're gonna be able to take the backstreets!"

"What is happening?" Spencer whispered to his little sister. "Who comes flying down the street?"

"Look, Spencer, we just really need to get you guys out of here."

"But why?! Who's flying down the street? How could you even fly down the street?" he whined.

Carly sighed, interrupting her brother's train of thoughts. "I-I can't tell you, Spence. I just hope we don't have to face them." She said praying inwardly.

Freddie opened the window of the first floor that led to the fire escape and climbed silently through. Gibby followed and held his hand out to Sam, who actually smiled and took it before climbing through the window herself. Then she took the lead quietly walking down the stairs. When the group was fully assembled, Carly looked at her.

"Which way's the best?"

Sam looked around and motioned to their right. "That way's fastest and safest not to be seen."

"But... there's a grate blocking the way!" Freddie exclaimed.

"Oh come on, man, we can climb over that." Gibby said patting Freddie on the back.

Easier said than done. At least for the boys. Carly and Sam practically flew over the grate. They broke into a run, jumped against the wall of the house, pushed themselves off and lifted their bodies up and over the grate as if it was nothing.

The boys stared. What on earth?!

Freddie and Spencer helped Gibby to get over the grate and then climbed over themselves, not almost as graceful as the girls did, but they got over.

"Man, that cost us much time." Carly said.

"How could I know they'd be such poor weaklings?!" Sam asked in a whisper-shout to defend herself.

"All right, we did it, so let's move on!" Freddie said.

Sam and Carly nodded.

"Remember, we're not meant to make a sound." Carly reminded them. The boys nodded. They still had no idea what that whole thing was about, but Carly and Sam were more serious than ever before in their lives, so they just did as they said and followed.

They came to a little street, not as pretty as the big streets of Seattle but rather dirty and disgusting. Freddie shuddered. He'd never been here, but it was just around the corner from where he lived. Sam motioned for them to remain standing behind the corner while she would walk over and peek around it, if it was safe to cross the street. Apparently it was, because Sam was winking with her hand, motioning for them to move fast.

"Okay, don't look anywhere, don't get distracted, just run over the street." Carly instructed them and then turned to go first.

Sam was the last to vanish in the darkness of the backyard of the next building.

She sighed as she reached them. They still had to run about 8 miles through the backstreets of Seattle until they reached their destination. Sam growled. Freddie looked at her, she could see it from the corner of her eye, but she didn't care. There were more important things to think about now.

"Okay, we really need to get away from here, but we can't keep climbing over grates if it takes us this long." Carly said and she nodded. She knew it could be their deaths if they spent too much time out here.

"There's another way." The blonde said. "But it's more dangerous. It's along one of the backstreets. But we won't lose as much time." She looked at Carly. They were both insecure about their next step.

Suddenly, the rattling became louder and louder. Freddie looked to the sky and swallowed. Hard. A giant shadow was approaching. Then he got tackled by something or someone . He looked down, frowning because of the pain in his back that had collided with the brick wall. All he saw was a mess of blonde curls. Sam stood pressed against him, eyeing the shadow above their heads suspiciously, not moving an inch. He wasn't even sure if she was breathing. Her left hand was on Gibby's chest, puncturing it to make him stand still against the wall. Carly's hand was just beside hers, the brunettes shoulder pressed against her brother. Her facial expression was the same as Sam's.

And suddenly there was another shadow. A smaller one at the entrance to the backyard. Sam had seen it, too, pressing them harder than ever against the wall. She was hoping that the shadow hadn't noticed them. It moved towards them slowly, then let out a hiss and approached them in a run. Sam and Carly reacted immediately. Only one look was shared and Sam jumped at the shadow, landing a good punch with her left fist. Carly was in front of Freddie at once and grabbed his hand. They hurried off, past the shadow's and Sam's fighting figures and Freddie was positive that he had seen extravagantly long arms and fangs, not teeth, fangs. But Carly dragged them around a corner and Sam was out of sight.

"No!" He shouted. "Carly, we need to help Sam!" He wanted to stop, wanted to turn around and help his best friend, his first kiss, the girl that understood him so much better than anyone else. But Carly rushed on, she didn't let go of his hand and broke all his resistance with a single sentence.

"She's back there to save your ass, now don't let that be in vain!" she shouted over her shoulder. Freddie was shocked. Not only that Carly would use such an urban language, but also from her strength when she pulled him further on and - most of all - because of the truth behind her words. He shook his head and wanted to rush forward, new determination in his eyes, when a single sound made him lose all feeling.

A gunshot rang through the cold Seattle night air.

Carly gritted her teeth. Great. Now they'll know, something's wrong.

And with that, they vanished around another corner into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

They stopped about five blocks from Bushwell Plaza. Freddie, Spencer and Gibby were panting heavily, Carly instead seemed to have taken a slight training run. Spencer wondered about his little sister. Since when did she have a stamina better than the boys'?!  
Carly tapped onto her little black beeper, telling headquarters, that she and Sam had made it out of Bushwell. Footsteps could be heard behind them and Carly turned around immediately, gun in hand, pointing it at the darkness. Spencer, Freddie and Gibby stared at the brunette girl. A gun? Was that really their Carly? The Carly they knew? Where would she have a gun from? And what for?! "Come forward slowly." She growled at the shadows. "It's me. Don't shoot, Carls." Sam's voice could be heard and with cautious, slow steps, the blonde girl approached the group and stepped into the street light's light. "What does Sam want to be more than anything else?" Carly asked, her voice cold as ice.  
"Carly? What are you doing?" Freddie asked.  
"That's Sam, don't you see?" Gibby asked confused. But they didn't understand.  
"No, it's all right. She has to do this. It's for your safety. I want to be an invisible ninja." Sam answered the question, focusing only on Carly. The brunette sighed and let her arms fall to her sides, stepped forward and hugged her best friend tightly. "I knew you could do it." She said.  
"Yeah, but I had to use my little Wilson here to kill that thing. Sorry." Sam said, stroking the box on her right tigh.  
"Woah, woah, woah!" Spencer interrupted them, while Carly put her weapon back into its holster at her tigh. "Killed?! You girls have some serious explaining to do!" He was now becoming the adult that he part-timely was. "This escape from Bushwell, the guy that had attacked us. Sam didn't really kill him, right? And what about the guns?! Carly, I don't know you like this. And Sam I would have never thought that you would let her become like this! Carrying a weapon around with her! Are you two crazy?! And I don't care, if you can't tell me, because you will or else, I will not move an inch from here." Spencer cut off Carly's attempt to talk.  
"You're right. But we have to move, while I explain." she said eventually.  
"Okay, you remember those "self-defence-lessons" that Dad had asigned me for and I made Sam go with me?" Carly asked her brother.  
"Yes?"  
"Well, they weren't exactely the kind of self-defence-lessons that you'd imagine..." "What do you mean?" Spencer asked, shrugging.  
"She means that we were trained to handle weapons and punch those aliens' faces in." Sam said abruptly. Carly elbowed her.  
"What?"  
"ALIENS?!" Freddie, Spencer and Gibby shouted simultaneously.  
"Shhhhh!" Carly and Sam pressed their hands against the boys' mouths in a desperate attempt to shut them up. The girls looked around the streets frantically and dragged the boys further on around another corner. "Yes, aliens. Like in all those nerd-movies Freddie always watches. " Sam whisper-shouted at them, still looking up and down the street. Freddie reached up and put his hand against Sam's forehead. She slapped it away.  
"What are you doing?" She hissed.  
"Checking, if you have a fever and are hallucinating. There's just no way that aliens are real without the public knowing." He said, being his dorky little self. "Well, too bad for you, Benson, but they do. I just killed one about 15 minutes ago." Sam shot back at him. Carly sighed. Even in a situation like this, Freddie still managed to get under Sam's skin. "Sam!" Carly hissed. She had seen something move from the corner of her eye. "We have to get away from here!"  
Sam looked around and nodded, taking off in a sprint. "But-" Spencer took off, running behind them, he still hadn't recovered from the first sprint of the night. "But, why didn't you tell us?!" He shouted at the girls' back.  
"National security!" They shouted back. That shut him up. Not only him but also Freddie and Gibby were flabbergasted. Carly and Sam had done many things. But national security?! The world seemed to be turning. That whole adventure had to be a dream. It was so unreal!  
It was only when they heard a loud crash, that they stopped running through the streets and looked around, searching for the extremely loud crashing sound.  
Gibby discovered the source first. "Guys." He said, pointing above their heads, back to Bushwell Plaza. A gigantic... thing was crashing right into the building they had called their home. "W-What's that?" Freddie stuttered. "It's one of their ships." Sam said emotionlessly. The huge dark thing looked like it jumped right out of Transformers and was currently crashing into the building, loud banging and aching could be heard, probably caused by the steel girders of the building.  
The four teenagers and the manchild watched in horrible awe. Carly gulped. Her on-off-boyfriend Griffin had lived in that building with them. Spencer placed his hand on his little sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Carly." She shrugged his hand off. "I'll cry when there's time for it. Let's move." She said emotionlessly and turned to walk away, followed by Spencer.  
Sam bit her lip. That emotionlessness was a further point that Carly had adapted during their training. She didn't like it, but Sam knew it was necessary to survive. She did that throughout all her life, after all.  
"Come on, we need to go." She told Gibby and Freddie who had still been rooted to the spot, staring up at the slowly collapsing building and all the people dying within it. The two boys couldn't take their eyes off that horrible scenery.  
Sam moved close to them, taking their hands and slowly dragging them along, while all around them lights were switched on. Apparently the electricity wasn't turned off in the whole town.  
A siren went off, introducing a fire truck heading to Bushwell, which was soon to be joined by other sirens heading to their old home. A home they would never be able to return to.  



	4. Chapter 4

They had run and jogged through the backstreets of Seattle for about two hours now, always on the highest level of concentration. There were fighting sounds to be heard and every once in a while Carly and Sam had to take out an alien that was coming in their way.

"Sam!" Carly yelled out to her, as the blonde girl broke the alien's neck with a kick that was followed by a terrible crunch.

"What?!" She shouted, a little too loud, but the adrenaline was rushing through her, letting her take in everything a lot sharper and more... real than usual.

"We need to rest." Carly panted. She had just finished her fight consisting of a fist fight that had seemed to take forever.

Sam wanted to protest, but then took a look at the boys. Their hands on their knees, panting as if they'd just run their second marathon in a row, looking at them, their eyes tired. But there was something else in them. Sam wondered, was it respect for their skills or even _fear_ of what the two iCarly girls had become? She swallowed.

"Okay. There are some abandoned houses down at the river. They're not very comfy, but at least I guess we won't be discovered until morning."

Carly nodded.

"Come on, guys. Only five more minutes and we can rest for a while."

They jogged extremely slowly towards the river. Sam in the lead, Carly at the end of the group, securing their backs.

"We're going to spend the night _here_?" Gibby asked as he took a disapproving look at the abandoned houses.

"It's that or running the whole night until we reach the Safety Spot." Sam said, while she took her hair pin out and picked the lock to one of the houses in the middle of the road. It took her only about 5 seconds, Freddie noticed.

"Your new record, Puckett?" he gave her his half-smile between heavy pants as he passed her to step inside the building after Carly.

"Tss." Was all she answered him, but he caught the tiny smile that krept across her lips and smirked even more.

Carly and Sam were silently checking the house for any other inhabitants and making it save to stay over night, while the boys waited in the tiny living room on the ground floor, close to the door, instructed to run if they were told to. Gibby looked around. The house was old and dusty, but there were still some pieces of furniture to sit on.

"I don't like that whole thing." He mouthed his thoughts eventually.

"What?" Spencer asked, he seemed to have been deep in thought.

"I don't like that. All of it. Carly and Sam have changed since they started their lessons, but that they hid something from us all that time. I don't like that at all." He said, plopping down on an old armchair, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

"I know what you mean." Freddie said. "I can't believe that Sam could hide that from me. I mean, I noticed that she and Carly had changed, but-" he looked up.

Spencer and Gibby were staring at him agitatedly.

"What?" He asked.

"Since when are you so close with _Sam_?" Gibby asked.

"Er- well... we are best friends after all!" Freddie tried to explain. He wasn't going to tell them, that he and Sam had that connection of understanding that nobody else had in their little group. One look could save them minutes of talking. And he was definitely not going to tell the boys that he felt that special spark whenever the blonde headed demon was around. They were his best friends as well, but he just wasn't ready to tell anybody, although he thought that Spencer might have an idea of his feelings for his second little sister.

"What about Carly?" Gibby asked.

"Yeah, what about Carly?!" Spencer jumped into the conversation. "I just can't believe that my little baby sister has become an emotionless killing machine!" he exclaimed.

"Shh!" Freddie said at once. He was standing nearest to the door to the little hallway. "They're coming down."

Spencer and Gibby shut their thinking up immediately.

"Okay." Carly said as she walked into the room, she looked exhausted and old, not like her usual peppy self. "The house is secured. We can get some rest now, our alarm systems will wake us up if something's near the house."

The boys nodded and got up to their feet.

"We're going to sleep upstairs, right?" Gibby asked and Carly nodded.

"It's safer."

The first story was as dusty as the ground floor.

Sam had gathered all the blankets and cushions she had found.

"It's not the most comfortable five star hotel, but it'll have to be sufficient." She said, sitting down on one pile of cushions, covering herself in a blanket, leaning her back against the wall.

"It will be all right, Sam. Thank you." Carly said and sat across from her in the dark room. Only the street lamps were enlightning the house.

Spencer and the boys looked at each other and shrugged, making themselves as comfortable as possible on the hard ground. Freddie had sat down beneath Sam, while Gibby and Spencer were flanking Carly. Silence engulfed the group for a little bit. Then, Spencer had apparently build up enough courage, he asked:

"Why didn't you tell us?"

It was a simple question but it implied so much more. Why hadn't they told them? Hadn't they trusted them enough? Had they planned to ever tell them if this whole thing hadn't happened? Had they planned on dying with that secret, if necessary?

Carly exhaled deeply.

"Spencer, you know we love you guys more than anything else. It's not that we didn't trust you, but... we had terrible problems with the truth of those aliens being real and ready to attack any time." Tears were suddenly rolling down Carly's cheeks and she sobbed.

"We didn't want to bother you, if it wasn't necessary." Sam said, her voice throaty. "We had nightmares without end and barely slept for the past one and a half years." She gulped.

Spencer and Gibby shuffled closer to the crying brunette, who had now seemingly totally lost it and hugged her tightly. She wasn't only crying due to relief, but also for the people she had lost back at Bushwell Plaza. Griffin, her other neighbours, probably even for Lewbert. For her home that she'd lost and for all those memories that she couldn't save.

"We thought it wasn't fair to bother you. You should keep on living your happy lives as long as you could, while we-" Sam sobbed, just then she noticed that she was crying as well. "While we were being trained to save you, if necessary. Colonel Shay wanted us to have a better chance to escape and make sure we would be safe."

"Wait, what?!" Spencer shouted in shock. "Dad sent you there?"

Sam nodded, trying to calm herself by inhaling and exhaling deeply.

"We were told how to handle weapons, where to shoot to kill most effectively, we were trained to fight those aliens with our bare hands, if necessary. It was pretty hard." She sobbed again, harder this time. "But- but the hardest part was- was not being able to tell you."

"You have to believe us! Please!" Carly sobbed frantically, her voice sounding even panicked. "We did all of this just for you. Be-because we love you!"

Sam put her hand on her mouth, her lips were trembling heavily. Seeing her best friend like this made her even more hysterical. The fear that Gibby, Spencer and Freddie wouldn't want them anymore became overwhelming.

Then, she felt two arms that wrapped around her shoulders and her waist and pulled her into a tight embrace. She knew that scent. It smelled like cinnamon and lemons and she knew that it was Freddie who hugged her. Sam gribbed his shirt tightly and pressed herself against the boy.  
"It's all right." He whispered near her ear. "We're not mad. Everything's going to be fine, Sam."

Spencer nodded. He knew Sam needed someone to comfort her and if it wasn't Carly it could only be Freddie. Sam would be too proud to let herself come down like that to Gibby or even himself. It hurt him a little bit, she was like a second sister to him after all, but it was all right, because that was just how Sam was. Although he thought, that there was something special that connected Sam and Freddie. Sure, they had shared their first kiss, but furthermore they had a kind of different connection from the rest of them. Spencer couldn't do different but believe, that Sam would tell Freddie even things, that she wouldn't tell Carly. He had never witnessed this kind of conversation or anything, but there was this feeling in his tummy that made him believe in that connection as strong as in the existence of the beavecoon.

The two girls kept sobbing and drenching the boys' clothes for a long time, but finally Sam's sobs died down on Freddie's shoulder and she breathed in an out deeply. She didn't let go of Freddie's shirt, though. Carly still sniffled on Spencer's chest but sat back up soon.

"It's so unreal." She sniffled, looking at her blonde best friend.

"Yeah." She smiled a little.

"What is it?" Gibby asked, squeezing Carly's hand that he had been holding the entire time.

"We- we can finally _talk_ to you." Carly smiled.

"But you could always talk to us." Spencer said.

"Spencer, we mean _really_ talk to you." Sam explained, her voice raspy from crying. "There are no more secrets between us anymore."

"Oh." He said.

"So why'd you cry?" asked Gibby.

The four looked at him, speechless. He couldn't be serious. But on the other hand... that was Gibby for you.

"Well, _maybe_ because Carly and I had bottled up our feelings for _one and a half years_ and set up an act to keep you unaware of everything, you nut!?" Sam said loudly, but cracked into laughing at the end of her sentence and threw a pillow at him.

"Hey! Sorry!" Gibby said, throwing it back at her, he also smiled.

_He isn't as stupid as Sam thinks. Good work, Gib._

Freddie thought and grinned at his friend. Carly giggled and dove behind Spencer as Sam threw another pillow straight at Gibby. Sam laughed and soon there was a true pillowfight going on between the five of them. Carly and Sam were laughing from their hearts for the first time in what felt like forever and could even forget the difficult situation they were in for a while.

Panting, the four teenagers and Spencer stood in a pentagram, smiles on their faces, not moving an inch. Every single one of them had one or two pillows in their hands, dreading another to make the first move.

"Okay," Carly panted, grinning widely. "Let's say it's a tie."

Slowly, everyone nodded and put their weapons down.

Sam was the first to plop down on the floor, leaning her back against the wall.

"I'm hungry." She said, pulling a fatcake out of her backpack.

"You seriously packed fatcakes?" Carly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure. I had to secure the world's most delicious treat." She said, unwrapping it and shoving it into her mouth. Carly giggled. "Of course. I should've seen that coming."

"Yes, you should!" Sam said with her mouth still full of her beloved fat cake.

Spencer frowned. Sometimes that girl was more a man than he was. Ew. Those eating habits... double ew.

"Well how about sleeping? I'm really tired." He said instead, ignoring Sam's mannerless behaviour.

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Gibby said, stretching and yawning.

Freddie gathered some pillows from where Sam was sitting and was about to move further away from her, but she grabbed his sleeve in an instant. He looked at her, wondering what she wanted.

_Stay_.

That was what her sparkling blue eyes said and it was all he needed. The brunette boy plopped down next to her and started to build a little nest of blankets, pillows and cushions for them. Carly and Gibby looked kind of confused, but shrugged it off and cuddled together in the corner, Spencer grinned knowingly at Sam. She nudged him, but broke into a smile and of course, the elder boy didn't miss that. His grin widened as Sam hopped into the little nest.  
"Man, Benson, that's so cheesy. What are you, a freakin' bird?!" she asked.

"Naah, shut up, Puckett." he answered and dissappeared mostly under his blanket.

"Good night, you weird kids." Spencer chuckled.

"Night." The teenagers mumbled in unison.

Sam lay down, facing Freddie. He looked at her, studying her face, asking himself when things had come so far that _Gibby _and _Carly_ cuddled in the far away corner and he lay in a nest next to _Sam_.

"What are you staring at, nub?" the blonde whispered harshly.

"You."

"Don't get any ideas." She whispered. "That's a one-night-stand, you got it?"

Freddie chuckled. "Sure, Puckett. Just get some sleep. If I got that right you haven't slept too much in the last one and a half years."

"Tss. You try to sleep with such a secret on your mind." The blonde answered him, rubbing her eyes while the first snores could already be heard.

"I'd rather not." He grinned. Then, he sighed, becoming serious and whispering:

"I can't imagine how you two lived with such a burden that whole time. I'm so proud of you." He shot her a gentle, even proud smile and continued. "But now you can share that burden, Sam, don't forget about that. From now on, you can tell me everything."

She looked at him closely, her eyes began to water slightly.

"Thanks, nub." And again, one look said so much more than a whole bunch of words could. She wanted to thank him. She was relieved without end. She was happy to have lost this terrible burden, but was also scared. For him. For the others. Not for herself. And she was tired. So, so tired.

They scooted closer to each other, Sam even let him wrap his arms around her, squeezing her tightly to let her know he understood and that he was there.

"Sleep now. I'll watch you." he smiled and kissed her forehead, he didn't really have a reason. It was just a feeling and it seemed the right thing to do at that moment.

"Ngaah. You're just lucky I'm too tired to punch you for that." She mumbled, already drifting into sleep. He chuckled. That special spark within him that inflamed whenever he thought about her or whenever she was around was now burning like a giant fire. He knew it was terribly cliché, but he couldn't wipe that huge smile off his face. And so he fell asleep, too, that stupid goofy smile still brightly visible on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hellooo. :) **

**It's me again:) Listen, I know you're reading this! Yes! You! Ha! **

**... So would you mind to review? You like it? You think it sucks? Favorite parts/moments/phrases... anything?  
You neeeeed to tell me! How am I supposed to improve the Story if you don't? :(**

**So, I'll shut up now, you go and enjoy the new chapter and please Review afterwards? :)**

**Love, Milka :)**

The next morning came as usual. Too soon. The sky was a bright grey due to the clouds that seemed to never leave the streets of Seattle.

Sam yawned and stretched, when her elbow nearly collided with Freddie's head, she turned her head and looked at the boy. He was still sleeping, his brown hair a mess, his arms still wrapped around her waist. The blonde smiled. She hadn't slept better in years.

Her blue eyes skimmed the room. Spencer was a hill of blankets, only a little of hair was visible. She smiled. That was so Spencer-ish. Sam looked over to the corner where she knew Carly would be and found herself even giggling at the sight of the little, fragile Carly Shay, lying in the bear-ish arms of the Gibster. It looked like a mouse and an elephant suddenly became friends. She laughed again, silently, then started to work on waking up Freddie.

The blonde girl turned in the boy's arms, now facing him.

"Freddie." She whispered. Sam smiled when he frowned and burried his face in her hair.

"Hey, you have to wake up, Benson." she grinned, gently tickling his side.

He mumbled something into her hair about five more minutes and that he doesn't want to go to school today.

Sam sighed. Well, then it was the hard way for him. She never knew, that he could be such a deep sleeper. The blonde headed demon grinned evilly and then licked the boy square across the side of his face that was not burried in her hair.

His head shot up.

"What?! EW! Sam! Puckett why can't you wake me nicer after I let my arms stall for you tonight?!" he wiped her saliva off his face. She felt a little guilty, but she had tried to wake him gently, hadn't she?

"Oh, man up, Benson. It's not my fault you sleep like a bear."

He glared at her but then his gaze fell on Gibby and Carly and he smiled.

"Tss. Look at that. Gibby and Carly. Interesting."

Sam nodded.

"It looks like a mouse and an elephant suddenly became friends." He grinned. Sam's head shot around and looked at him confused.

"Stop freaking me out with your mind-reader-abilities!" she demanded.

Freddie looked confused for a moment, then he understood and a bright grin appeared on his face.

"Whatever, Puckett."

"Do you have to start your bickering so early in the morning?" said a sleepy Carly from across the room.

"Hey, you're awake." Sam exclaimed, smiling at her friend who was rubbing her tired eyes.

"Yaa, thanks to you, Sam." she said, snuggling back into Gibby's huge figure.

Sam and Freddie had a mischievous grin on their faces.

"Sooo... what's up with you and the Gibster?" Freddie asked, eyeing his brunette best friend curiously.

"Yeah, where comes the idea of snuggling into a Gibby?" Sam joined the boy and stared at her webshow-co-host.

"Well... He's very nice and gibby-ish and sweet and... oh man, I just really like him, okay?! What's wrong about a little love when the world's maybe coming to an end!?" Carly exclaimed.

Freddie and Sam laughed at her.

"All right, all right." Sam said hugging herself tighter in her blanket.

"I could ask you two the same thing, by the way." Now it was Carly's turn to grin mischievously. "How come you two, who can't even _now_ stay in the same room without bickering snuggle up at night?"

She thought she'd seen her two best friends blush for a split-second but then they blurted out:

"We're best friends!"

Carly was about to laugh at them and ask more questions, when Gibby came back to live beneath her.

"Morning." Carly said sweetly to him and smiled.

"Hey." Gibby too, rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Why are you all up so early?"

"We have to get going soon." Carly explained him with her sickly sweet voice. Sam shuddered. She talked as sweet as cotton candy!

"I'll wake up Spencer." Freddie said, but Sam was faster. She threw a pillow at him, never losing her old habits.

Spencer was up in a matter of seconds. "What?! What's happening?! Don't eat my soup!"

Sam laughed at that while the others just looked confused. Spencer had adapted her dream about the monster eating her soup while trying to cure her. Now she knew, he never really got rid of it. She would have to cure him some time, if this whole mess would ever end.

"Okay, people, let's get ourselves a quick breakfast and then take off soon." Carly said, standing up. The others nodded.

The breakfast had been roughly what Sam called an actual breakfast, but it couldn't be helped. They needed to get on fast. Her hope was that those aliens wouldn't move as much in the light as in the dark, but that wasn't certain, so they had to move either way.

Carly was the first to step out the door of the abandoned house on the riverside of Seattle. It was misty in the streets, much to Carly's pleasure. They wouldn't be as visible for anyone if they moved around in that mist.

"Okay, quick! Sam, you're the navigator, you go first." She said, winking them out of the house and onto the street.

Sam looked the street up and down herself for a moment, then she said "Follow me," and took off in a blurr.

The boys sped after her and left Carly to close the door and again secure their backs. Those three were the important subjects that their mission revolved around after all. She and Sam had to get them to the Safety Spot that the National Security Division had prepared for as many people as possible around the Seattle area. Carly thought about why that whole disaster was started and shook her head unbelievingly while running. Those stupid aliens and people!

No we cannot live in peace together, we have to show each other how strong we are so the others don't think they could beat us!

The brunette thought, faking a manly voice in her head. It was all SO SOOOO stupid! Ugh!

Sam had led them along smaller streets until they were about two blocks from one of the mainstreets. She stopped and turned to Carly.

"I know we shouldn't do this, but we can't take another way anymore. The others reported some huge gatherings that block our way, Carls. We need to cross the main street."

Carly's eyes widened. She gulped, but then nodded. She knew Sam wouldn't risk their lives for nothing and she too had felt the almost constant buzzing of her little black beeper.

"Okay, let's go."  
"So, I'll go first-"

"No." Freddie and Carly said at once. Sam looked at them funny.

"You can't go there, it's dangerous!" Freddie said, ignoring Carly's funny look and knowing smile.

"He's right. They need you more than me, Sam." All faces turned to her, their expressions between confused, scared and even angry.

"What?! Stop talking like that, Shay, you know that's not-" Sam started but was cut off.

"Yes it _is_ true and you know it! I know these streets not as well as you do. You came to my place every day, using the backstreets for the past 1.5 years, so they could burn into your mind. I know it Sam, I saw you coming several times. You prepared to lead us to the Safety Spot safely."

Everyone stared at Carly after her little speech. Eventually, Gibby found his voice.

"But..." He cleared his throat. "But don't you know the way, too, Carly?"

Carly sighed. "Yes. But I only now it in theory. Sam is the one who can guarantee your safety better than I can and that is the most important." Spencer and Freddie opened their mouths to argue with her, but she cut them off before they could even start. "Stop it, you guys. It _is _the most important. Keeping you safe is our mission and I will not let that be ruined. And now stop talking as if I was about to jump in the middle of the street and shout 'Hey, here I am, please kill me!'" She said and shrugged their worried looks off.

"You'll be right back, Shay, you heard me?" the blonde girl asked her best friend, a determined look in her eyes. "Or else, I'll come and get you. Don't get any funny ideas."

Carly grinned. "I wouldn't expect no less."

Then she took off and turned around the corner into the street that led to the mainstreet.

Gibby gulped. Spencer could see the fear in his eyes as Carly vanished. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.  
"She's coming back, Gib. Don't worry." He said, squeezing his shoulder. Gibby nodded silently but didn't quit staring at the spot were Carly had escaped their sight.

"Okay, guys, I know, none of you wants to hear this, but _if_ - I said **if**, Gibby! - Carly," Sam gulped, "doesn't make it or she shouts, then we take off towards the river in an instant. _Is that clear_?!" She asked, looking everyone in the eyes deeply. The boys nodded. Spencer was breathing in and out deeply to calm himself and Gibby down, but nevertheless left his hand on the shoulder of the bear-like boy.

Freddie eyed them worriedly. It was hardest for them to watch their little sister and maybe even new found love leave for a dangerous task. He knew it, it was hard for him too, but it would have been way harder for him, if Sam would have gone. She was prepared to do it, of course and nobody could stop her if she had set her mind on something, not even him and he knew that. So he would have just stood back and let her do what she needed to do, even if it killed him inside. The brunette boy stared at Sam. She was watching everything. The blonde girl was highly concentrated, her senses reportet every slight shake of the earth, each little sound from around her and each smell that could change in an instant. He wanted to reach out to her, to make her relax a little, but he knew it wouldn't be smart to do so. Their safety could not be risked and he knew Sam and he himself would never forgive him if one of them would get hurt due to his stupid acting. He would have to endure her clenched jaw, her stiff features and the fingers that lay on the little box where he knew her gun - Wilson, was it? - was in.

It could have been only five minutes at max, but it felt like an eternity to the four people that were standing far off the road and waiting for their brunette friend to return. And eventually, she did. Sam heard her footsteps first and tensed up even more, if that was possible. She flicked the holster open and pulled her gun out, pointing it at the edge of the road. The steps slowed down and everyone turned around, exppectantly.

"Do not shoot, Sam. I will come around that corner now." Carly's voice said and then, there she was. Not hurt, not different from before, but still, Spencer held Gibby back, who wanted to rush forward and hug her, relief written all over his chubby face.

"The boy's name that you liked and got beaten up when I started a fanwar at webicon?" Sam's voice didn't show any emotion.

"Adam." Sam smiled at her and put her gun away. "We need to move fast, Sam, there's no one in sight yet."

Sam nodded, then growled. "It would be safer if it was dark..."

"But we can't wait for the sun to set in more than 6 hours." Carly said, arching an eyebrow.

"I know." The blonde snarled at her best friend. "Okay, let's move. Spencer, follow after me. Freddie in the middle, I guess we won't get Gibby too far away from his precious Carly." she said. Gibby eyed her, curious what to expect from her attitude. But when she gave him a small, sympathetic smile, he immediately smiled back, relief was again written all over his face.

Sam sped towards the main street, but stopped about 30 feet away from the entrance of their backstreet. She motioned for the group to huddle.

"I'll sneak a peek around the corner, if I motion for you to run, then you run, you heard me? Across the street and into the second street to the left. You got that?" Everyone nodded. "Good."

Freddie was tense. He was just waiting on the cue to dash forward out into the misty street and hope hell wouldn't break lose. They could be seen, that was his biggest fear. They would barely stand a chance in the open. And then, there it was. Sam was waving her hand again and he sprinted along after Spencer out into the open, their eyes searching immediately for the street entrance that Sam wanted them to run to. Freddie glanced around while running. He knew this street. His Mom had driven him to his old elementary school using this street every morning. It had eight driving surfaces that they had to run over. Great. Seattle had many streets, but only a hand full were this big and of course they'd had to cross one of the biggest. He didn't remember that it took that long to cross a street, but it could also just seem like that due to the adrenalin and his blood that were surging through him.

First Spencer dissappeared from his sight, then he himself barged into the dark alleyway and continued to run up to the middle of the street. He could hear Gibby's heavy footsteps following close behind and then, finally there were the light taps from the girls' feet. They had all made it and it seemed that they hadn't caught any attention. Freddie sighed and smiled at this, when he discovered, that Carly was covered in blood.

"Carly?" He asked axious of the answer he'd get.

"It's okay. It's not my blood." She said and looked down her black uniform, colour was flushing into Spencer and Gibby's faces again.

"Well, most of it." She looked at her hand were a huge cut went across the back of it.

"Freddie, your emergency-kit please." Sam said, examining the cut closer. The brunette boy fuddled a little with his backpack and its inhabitants, but got it out eventually.

"All right, a small bandage should do." Sam said relieved and took the first-aid kit from Freddie. While she took care of the wound, Carly eyed the others closely.

"Are you all right?" She asked. They nodded.

"Yeah, but what happened? Where did all that blood come from?" Spencer asked his baby sister.

"An alien was just emerging from another street and caught a glimpse of us speeding across the street. I was fighting it when Sam... well, let's say she took the quicker way to get rid of it."

"I cut his head off." Sam said coolly.

The boys stared at her. "Er- you did _what_?!" Spencer said unbelieving what he just heard.

Sam shrugged and finished Carly's bandage.

"Whatever, let's just go." She said and stood up. Carly nodded and followed ensuite.

"How long until we reach our destination?" She asked the blonde.

"About two miles. We can make it in about half an hour, if there aren't any _occurrences_." She answered. Carly nodded again.

"All right, follow Sam, everyone, we're almost there." Carly exclaimed to the boys.

And once again, they sped along the dark alleyways of Seattle.


	6. Chapter 6

They were almost there. Sam knew it. She had visited this place many, many times. The image of the building was scratched into her eyeballs, she could even picture its position and form exactely in her dreams. She could see it from a distance, it was about half a mile to go and then they would finally, finally be safe. They wouldn't have to worry about the boys anymore. They would be able to _rest_, for real this time. The night before was good, but it was still a light sleep, being alarmed at all times to jump out of bed and evactuate anyone.

Sam turned her head and looked at the end of the row running behind her. Carly looked highly concentrated, but still there was the smile that she shot her best friend as she turned. They had almost done it.

The last few hundred metres flew by and Sam found herself at a little bush. Behind it was a little speaker installed, she pressed the little green button.

"Agents Puckett and Shay, Safety Spot, please respond." She let go and waited for a moment. She was anxious. What if the aliens had already been here? What if there was no Safety Spot anymore? What would they do? Sam shot Carly an uncertain look as nothing happened, but then a man's deep voice boomed out of the speaker.

"Please identify yourselves, agents."

"Special Agent Puckett, Samantha, identification number 2018F83GBH-3."

"Special Agent Shay, Carly, identification number 20D834KL50-2."

"Identity secured." The voice said and a little camera appeared out of the wall. "Please look into the camera, you know the procedure."

First Carly, then Sam lowered themselves and looked closely at the camera. The little light at the side went from red to green.  
"There are other living beings with you. Are these your mission's subjects?" The man asked again.

"Yes." Carly answered.

"Good. You may proceed." The wall slid to the side and Carly and Sam smiled at each other and stepped in, Freddie, Spencer and Gibby following slowly behind.

"What's this?" Freddie asked.

"It's safety." Carly smiled at him and lay an arm around Sam's shoulders. "We did it." Sam smiled back at her warmly.

"Yes."

They had stepped into an elevator that transported them down, many stories under the earth in a matter of seconds. When they emerged they were greated by a tall afro-american dressed in a black shirt and khaki pants.

"Congratulations agents Shay and Puckett." He smiled at them. The girls grinned and dashed forward to hug the young man.

"Woah, woah, easy there, Texas." He laughed.

"I thought I knew that voice!" Sam exclaimed squeezing the man with the hazel eyes tighter.

"Since when are you here?" Carly asked, her eyes shining again like they did two years ago.

"I got here yesterday. I live closer to the Safety Spot than you guys." He said and tousled their hair. The girls laughed at that.

Spencer, Freddie and Gibby stared at the scene before them. Ben? Who was that Ben? And why were they so... so _familliar_ with him? Freddie felt a bang of jealousy hit his stomach and glared at the tanned man. Fortunately it was Gibby who cleared his throat to make their presence known before he could, otherwise he would definitely have said something stupid.

The girls and _Ben_ turned around to look at them.

"Oh right!" Carly laughed, they had obviously forgotten about the civilists they had brought. "Ben, this is my brother Spencer and our friends Freddie and Gibby." She introduced them. Gibby didn't like it at all that she said _friends_. But what could he do? It was not like they were officially dating or anything... If anything could be official anymore.

"Guys," Sam picked up the introduction, "This is Special Agent Ben Pattinson." She smiled at him. Freddie caught the growl that was forming in his throat at the last second and instead waved at the man.

"Nice to meet you, guys. I've heard so much about you and of course, I was watching iCarly as often as possible." He smiled. He had shiny white teeth and a sympathetic smile.

Ugh.

Freddie thought. _Awesome, there we have Mr. Handsome to compete against._

"Has anyone else returned yet?" Carly asked hopefully.

"I have." said a manly voice behind them. They turned around. It took Sam only a splitsecond to realize that dirty blonde hair and she sped towards the young man. She jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, thank god, thank god, thank god!" She repeated over and over again, as she tried not to start to cry hysterically.

"Hey Chester." Carly smiled at him.

Now it was too late for Freddie to stop it. He growled at the scene before him. Loudly. Carly and Ben turned and looked at him funny. But Freddie wasn't the only one who seemed not to like the scene before them, Carly noticed. Gibby was clenching and unclenching his fists and Spencers jaw clenched tighter than she had ever seen it before. Their eyes glared at the two men in front of them.

Carly laughed at their faces.  
"Guys, calm down. This is Special Agent Chester Bennington." She said matter-of-factly. But nobody seemed to understand. "He's Melanie's boyfriend."

That was wenn Freddie and Spencer lost their attitude, their mouths forming perfect Os as their jaws dropped. When had Sam gotten so affectionate? ... Oh right, stupid question.

"What is he doing here?" Spencer asked curiously.

"The four of us were in the same unit." Sam explained, still tugging onto Chester's grey shirt. But still, they didn't seem to understand. "It means that my. Sister. Is. Safe." She explained as if they were dumb. Only Gibby was still clenching his fists at his sides.

Carly went over to him and took his hand.

"Come on guys, let's get something to eat and visit Mel." Chester said and everyone followed.

They were lead through the white corridors of the base. People in white coats passed them as well as women and men in leathery uniforms just as Sam and Carly were wearing. It took them unusually long to get to the cafeteria, if you considered the construction above the earth, but Spencer thought, he shouldn't judge from what's on the outside. He had seen too many action movies to do so. The brunette man wondered about his sisters. Yes, sister**_s._**In his mind he would always call Sam his sister, too. It was shorter and it was almost right anyways. So he wondered about them. Their behaviour, their skills that they had adapted and the friends they had apparently made. His sisters were _Special Agents_ now! Wow! How cool would that be, if he told Socko and T-Bo about it!? Sadness slashed through him. Socko and T-Bo! Aw man, how could he have forgotten about his two best friends?! He didn't even know if they were still alive! Spencer bit his lip. Very unmanly, he knew, but it was necessary to stop him from thinking about them. He focused on Sam, who was walking at the front of the group, still clinging to this Chester-boy like he was a lifesaving boat or something. Spencer swallowed. If he had a hint that Carly was still alive and safe, he would cling to it, too, with all might. And that was just was Sam did. Only that she could literally cling to it. Spencer himself didn't bother, but he knew Freddie didn't like that at all. He could tell by the constant biting of his lip that the boy did. Although he knew it was Melanie's boyfriend, he was still jealous, huh? Interesting. He didn't know that Freddie was the jealous type...

As soon as they opened the grand grey wing doors and stepped inside the cafeteria, screaming started. Then there was a thud and Sam was thrown to the ground. Carly and Chester jumped back, not wanting to get dragged down with the two girls that were laying on the ground, golden messes of curls all over their upper bodies.

"Oh god, you're safe! Thank god!" The hairy mess exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm here, Mel." Arms were flung around each other as the group around them looked down at them, their facial expressions set between confused and amused.

"Let's stand up, I don't want to get all dirty." Sam said and pushed Melanie off of her. Chester took their hands and helped the twins up. Melanie's face was smeared with makeup and mascara, while Sam's hair was messy and she breathed deeply.

Freddie smiled to himself. That was so typical Sam. Not wanting to show her soft side and hide it the best way possible.

"What are you laughing at, Dorkenstein?" she asked harshly, but still letting Melanie grab her hand and scoot closer to her twin sister.

"Nothing." he said quickly.  
"Dorkenstein?! Samantha!" Ben criticized her.

"Naa, keep your breath, Ben, he's used to it." She said, shrugging it off and turning around to Melanie. "So, where's the food?"  
Melanie giggled. "Right over here." She said and led her sister through the hall.

"You got yourself a hard one there." Ben grinned at Freddie. Carly also smiled, but Freddie didn't know what was so funny about that.  
"I know that." He snapped and stomped after the blonde girls. What did this Ben-guy think?! That he knew Sam better than he did? He? Her best friend? Their connection was hell of a lot more than the connection she could be having with _him_! But on the other hand... Ben had known about what bothered Sam. He had known about her sorrows and feelings and he himself had not. He hadn't even suspected them. Freddie bit his lip. He hadn't been the best best friend in these past years. His two best friends had managed to hide their feelings and sorrows from him completely. Great.

"I'm such a jerk." He mumbled to himself before he joined Sam and Melanie who were piling food in their plates. Melanie may have been a vegetarian and knew how to behave, but after all she _was_ Sam's twin sister. She could just eat as much.

After they finished their... dinner... lunch... whatever you would call it at 5 PM and you only had breakfast. Anyway, after finishing the boys and girls sat together some more time, until Melanie exclaimed she was going to bed. She had come to the Spot at about 4 in the morning and had refused to sleep until Sam would arrive. Sam and Carly nodded. They were tired, too, but they knew that there was work to do. They had to give their report to Morris and then Ben or Chester would introduce them to their systems.

"Morris requires your report at 5:30 PM, we're gonna show you guys your rooms now." Ben said and Carly and Sam nodded.

"What about my brother and Freddie and Gibby?" Carly asked.

"We'll show you to your rooms, you boys can rest until the girls tell you else." Chester said directly addressing Spencer.

"They won't be too far off from our places, right?" Sam asked slightly anxious.

Chester shook his head. "No, Sam, don't worry. Oh and by the way, I share a room with Melanie. Do you want to-"

"Oh no, thank you. Just keep her." Sam interrupted him immediately. Chester smiled.

"Thanks."

They rose from their seats and walked through the white corridors again, took another elevator and got out in another white corridor. Of course, what else.

"Carly, Sam, your room is number 2489 and you guys can sleep at the end of the corridor, number 2494. All right? Carly, Sam, we'll wait on floor 5 to take you to Morris."

The girls nodded and thanked the boys, then Ben and Chester left. The little group stood in the middle of the hallway awkwardly.

"Soo... Those are Ben and Chester, huh?" Spencer said.

"Yeah." Carly and Sam mumbled in unison.

"And Melanie didn't know about this either?" Freddie asked.

Sam shook her head. "Not a thing."

He nodded.

"Well, we're going to change and then report to Morris." Carly said, stretching her limbs. "You guys go rest, you're safe now. We did it." She smiled warmingly at them. The boys nodded.

"Night." Freddie said and turned around, walking down the hall without a further look. Sam arched an eyebrow but couldn't bother any more, because she was being pulled into a tight hug by Spencer, as was Carly.  
"Thanks, girls. I don't know what we'd done without you." He let go of them. "See ya."

He turned and followed Freddie into the room at the end of the floor, which left only Gibby standing in front of Carly and Sam.

"Well, night, Gib." She said and vanished into room 2489.

Carly looked the chubby boy in the eyes.  
"Good night, Gibby." She said, a shy smile on her face.

"Night." He said stiffly.

The brunette girl was about to turn away disappointedly when he called out to her.

"Carly, wait." She turned and brown met greenish-brown. "I'm sorry about the thing with Ben..." he said.

"It's all right." Carly said, smiling at him. "We're not in love or anything. He's definitely not my type. I just kinda like you at the moment." She said self-confident and smiled brightly at him.

"What about Griffen?" Gibby asked, gulping because he was afraid of the answer he would get.

"We broke up a month ago... And it's not like I wanted to see him again, after that really ugly break up..." She said, trailing off silently. "But as I said, I like you at the moment and only you." She shot a little smile at him.

Gibby smiled back. Then Carly leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Gibbaaaay."

Carly and Sam stepped out of their room. They wore tight black shirts that were laying in their room when they entered. Sam had decided to take the blue jeans, while Carly went with the black one, both wearing their black leather boots.

"I wonder when the others will return..." Carly said.

"Yeah... There were 25 absolvents this year, they should get here soon..." Sam answered her question positively, but in her guts there was a feeling that not only half of them would survive... She gulped. They were only agents, not special agents like her and Carly. They had shown some extra effort and quite some talent and were bookmarked along with Ben and Chester who had developed special talents, too.

They stepped into the metal elevator, speeding down several floors in only seconds.

"Floor 6." The voice of a women announced. They stepped out. And gasped.

Before the two young girls lay the command center of the SFAC, the Special Force for Alien Creatures, and it was _huge_. At least 200 people were running around the room, busy with their tasks, from the small landing they were standing on, they looked like little black ants. Too many monitors to count were spilled everywhere around the room, some showing the news, some showing maps and others showed simply numbers.

"Shay, Puckett!" Ben winked to them from a few metres away. They smiled and approached him.

"Hey, woah the command center is huge!" Carly exclaimed and looked around.

"Giantoso!" Sam nodded and Carly looked at her funny.

"Yeah well, what did you expect? We're not a small unit." Chester laughed from behind Ben. He was about one and a half heads shorter than the tanned man and much thinner, he could easily hide behind him.

"I guess you're right." Carly sighed.

"Can we just get on with the procedure and give our report? Momma needs some sleep." Sam said and stretched.

Ben grinned at her and motioned for her to follow him.

"Well, well, Special agents Shay and Puckett," Morris said, "I'm glad to see you have made it here safe and without losing one of your subjects."

Carly sighed. "We have still lost too many others." She said sadly, thinking about Griffen, Lewbert and the other people that had lived in their building and died in their sleeps.

The middle-aged man looked at her with his grey eyes sadly and nodded.

"I know, Special Agent Shay." He ran a hand through his dark hair that was already stained grey. "Now, you got out of your homes safe. Tell me how you got here." He said and looked expectantly from one to the other.

Sam glanced at Carly. Her lips were a thin line as she pressed them together and gulped repeatedly. Her blue eyes focused back on the Major in front of her and she started to tell him about their escape, the clash with the aliens every once in a while and their safe entrance into the Spot. Morris nodded approvingly throughout the whole story.

"All right. You have done well, agents. You are intelligent, skilled and brave." He smiled at them proudly and they gave him little smiles of their own. "But I haven't expected less of two of my Special Agents. You are not chosen to lead the others for nothing."

Carly looked at him with big eyes. "Lead? We're meant to lead others?"

"Well yes." Morris said, looking at her, surprise in his eyes. "You have been trained to, haven't you?"

"Yes," Carly said and looked insecure, "But I really don't feel comfortable with commanding anyone..." She finished quietly. "Going out alone is no problem... But the danger of the others dying... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." She sighed heavily.

Morris nodded. "I see. But Special Agent Shay, you know that you will have to, if there are enough agents assembled, right?"

Carly bit her lip, but nodded. She knew she had to do what she had sworn to do a year ago.

"Good." The man said, standing up. "Special Agents Bennington and Pattinson should be prepared to teach you how to handle your new equipment and the new codes we will be using from now on. Tomorrow, we will assemble everyone in the great hall up on the second floor and tell you our further steps. Understood?"

"Understood, Major." Carly and Sam said simultaneously.

The Major nodded. "Dismissed."

The girls stepped out the doors, each escaped a breath they didn't know they had been holding and their shoulders slumping down.

"I hate those aliens." Sam groaned. "They mean so much trouble for us!"

Carly nodded. "I really hate them, too."

"Let's go and learn about our new equipment and then just get to bed!" Sam said and Carly led the way.

Chester and Ben took them through a crash course in learing about their new equipment.

While Sam thought the new rope-gun and the high tech pistols were awesome, Carly only thought about what they would have to do with them... They did a quick aim-training and then the boys sent them the new codes to their phones, seeing that the girls were more than just tired. They were on their knees, although neither of them said a word. The girls knew, they would have to endure their duty to the full extent and moaning wouldn't do them any good, so they had stopped it a over year ago. With an instructor like Major Morris, one had learned that after only two weeks... Or else you would suffer even more.

"Okay, girls, get to bed, you look horrible." Ben said and Chester snorted.

"Great. Just what a girl wants to hear." Sam said sarcastically.

"I know, right?" Carly said, looking at the boy with amused eyes.

"Go get some sleep, unless you want to train some more, Special Agent Shay!" Chester said warningly. Carly raised an eyebrow at him and the blonde boy broke into a mischievous grin.

"Sure, Special Agent Bennington." She grinned back at him and turned around to leave. "Good night, everyone!"

"Night!" Sam and the boys said and parted their ways.


	7. Chapter 7

Carly and Sam dropped onto their beds only ten minutes later. It had taken them a little to get from the 14th to the 6th floor, but eventually they had reached the room with the number 2489 on its door.

The room was small, one stepped directly into the living room with its grey couch, the brown floor and (of course) white walls. In the back were two tiny rooms, each providing a bed, a bathroom was between them. The beds weren't really fluffy, but you didn't need fluffy as long as you head something softer than the floor to sleep on.

"Night, Carls!" Sam yelled to the other room.

"Good night, Sam!" the brunette girl yelled back, already sounding sleepy.

Sam fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was _SO_ tired! But her sleep shouldn't last long. The sound of whispers and a door opening and closing woke her up. She heard muffled footsteps lead to Carly's room, waited a little and tiptoed out of bed. The blonde peeked into the room and caught sight of Carly snuggling into Gibby's chest.

Sam grinned evilly. "Carly, Carly, Carly." She barely whispered and shook her head. She heard a smooching sound and shuddered. Ew. She had no problem with the couple to sleep in the same bed and cuddle, but that didn't mean she wanted to listen to those terrible smooching sounds all night! Ew!

Deciding to give them some privacy and herself a break from shuddering, she quickly snuck out their front door and headed down the hall towards room 2494. Freddie and Spencer would be fast asleep it was 2:13 AM - if she had read right on her phone (her sleepy eyes were not always to trust!) - after all! The blonde headed demon tried the doorknob. Closed. Sam made a hissing sound. Stupid Gibby. Putting out her hair pin and picked the lock. It took her amazing 4 minutes to pick the security-lock. _They really did a good job here at the Spot._ Sam thought to herself, admiring the work of the locksmith.  
She tiptoed into the small apartment and stopped, trying to decide wich room could be Gibby's. Eventually, she snuck into the first room next to what she supposed was the bathroom door. A sleeping figure with long hair lay in bed, sprawled across the whole bed. Spencer. Meeeep. Wrong room. _One down, two to go_. She thought.

The blonde stepped into the next room, silently. The light was really bad in this one, considering a) the night lamp from the living room was furthest away from this room and b) they were several hundred metres _under _the ground! Sam pulled out her phone and lit the dark room a little, trying not to wake anyone.

Another figure. _Of course_. She thought to herself, rolling her eyes at her luck. Sam turned around and had almost left the room, when a sleepy Freddie-voice called out to her.

"Sam?" He mumbled. "Is that you?"

She turned around. He was rubbing his eyes, just like he did two nights before and again, he looked adorable. _Ugh. Stupid soft spot._ She thought to herself, but nevertheless smiled at the boy that looked up at her with heavy eyelids.

"Yes."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting up slightly.

"Well, it seems like Carly and Gibby have a serious thing going on, because he's sleeping over at our room and I thought I'd give them some privacy and sleep over here." She explained slowly so he could follow her even with his probably dizzy mind.

"Oh." He said.

"You got a problem with your precious Carly dating the weird kid?" She asked, changing her voice to a stupid tune, clarifying she was making fun of him.

He rolled his eyes. At least Sam assumed he would do so, because she couldn't make out his features that clear.

"No." He said in back in a stupid voice. Then, silence settled over them for a few moments until Sam said:

"Well, then, night, Nub." She turned to leave once again and once again he called out to her.

"Sam?"

"Hm?"

"... You... you won't get cold or anything?" He asked shyly. Sam arched an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Well... I mean... you wouldn't need another blanket... or... well... bring _some _other _agent _with you to warm you, right?" he stuttered. His face was burning like hell and he was glad that Sam couldn't see a thing of it due to the darkness.

She furrowed her eyebrows. He could see her confused face clearly, enlightened by the night lamp in the living room. Then her look changed to disbelief.

"Fredward, are you _jealous_ because of Chester and Ben?"

He didn't say a thing. He didn't move an inch. Freddie didn't want Sam to read his feelings out of his behaviour, so he didn't do anything. And that seemed to be the exact wrong thing to do.

"You _are_ jealous!" She exclaimed in a whisper-shout.

"No!" He said loudly and she hushed him immediately.

"Don't wake Spencer you idiot!" She said to him.  
Freddie bit his lip. He knew he had messed up. He inwardly damned the fact that she could read him like a book.

Sam's smile grew and it was evil.

"Well, well, well, Dork. That's interesting." She said quietly and before he could say another word, she had gripped the doorknob, stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Freddie in utter darkness.

Freddie gulped. She had not killed him.

That was the first thing he came to realize in the darkness of his small room. _Sam Puckett_ had not killed him. Yet. Maybe that was still to come. But what should he do now? He couldn't let her now his feelings that easily. If that wasn't already too late. Freddie grabbed for his phone.

**To: Sam**

**Please don't think weirdly of me... :/**

He gulped as he sent the text to the girl that lay next door. He hoped she would say something nice. But what else could he expect from her than a vicious comment.

**From: Sam**

**I don't know what you're talking about, Fred****_weird._**

He sighed. She worried and depressed him at the same time. That was something only Sam could do. But what was he supposed to do now? He couldn't do anything.

**To: Sam**

**Yeah, sure... Whatev. Night.**

He was depressed, but he thought it would be best, if he went back to sleep. The nights were shorter since he had been woken up by Sam some nights ago...

So Freddie rolled over.

Sam awoke once again with a start.

It was her second nightmare that night and she had only gone back to bed in Gibby's room 90 minutes ago! The blonde agent groaned. She knew what would help her sleep better. Sam growled deeply and got out of Gibby's bed. It smelled like Gibby anyway. Who would sleep well with such an odor around him!? Well, obviously Carly would. But that wasn't her problem.

Tiptoeing through the slightly lid living room she slowly advanced the door that was her destination. She opened it and slid in, closing it behind her quietly.

Freddie jumped up in his bed as she closed the door with a _thud_.

"What?! Who is this?! Sam?" He asked, slightly panicked.

"Move over, Nub." She said roughly. He didn't move, too confused by what was going on.

"Move over, I said, Benson!" She slapped him with the pillow she seemed to have brought with her. He quickly scooted over, hoping to escape another pillow-slap. Sam plopped down next to him and snuggled under his blanket. His face would have been priceless, he was sure of it - if anyone could have seen it that was. By the time he came back to his senses, Sam wasn't moving anymore, she had gotten comfortable, he supposed.

"Sam?" He asked.

"Hm."

"Er... what are you doing here?"

The blonde groaned. "I'm trying to sleep, Dork, I thought you could figure it out with your geeky brain." Freddie frowned at her response.  
"I mean, why are you here?"

"Then say so." He waited for a few seconds for her to continue, but she didn't.

"Sam?" She groaned again and turned around to face him.  
"_What, Nub?!_"

"Well... you haven't answered."

"And you haven't asked!"

Freddie rolled his eyes at her. He knew she couldn't see it, but he thought she might figure that he would. And she did.

"_Why _are you here, Princess Puckett?" Freddie asked grinning at her Sam-ish behaviour.

She stayed still.

"Saaam." He whined. Then, a tiny voice came to his ear.  
"What?"

"I can't sleep..." She said quietly, her voice soft and maybe even a little shaky. "I keep having these nightmares everytime I close my eyes..."

Freddie looked at the spot where her voice had come from.

"And you decided to come here?" He heard rustling. She must have nodded.

"Why?" he asked, his voice softer than ever, barely above a whisper. Silence engulfed them for a moment, then Sam answered.

"Last night... was the first night I have truly slept. I haven't woken once and I had not a sinlge nightmare... So... I figured, when I slept by your side my nightmares would dissappear..." She bit her lip after saying so. She may have gotten more emotional since she started the programme, but she was still not one of those girls who were like Carly had used to be! Always talking about feelings and blah. No, no, no. She was still Sam Puckett.

Her train of thought was cut off when she heard Freddie chuckle.

"What's so funny about that, you jerk?!" She asked him angrily, punching his arm - or what she thought was supposed to be his arm.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed. She could hear the smile in his voice and she hated him for it.

"You know what, I should leave. I can go to Spencer or just embrace my nightmares as always." She turned and was about to get up from bed when he grabbed her.

"Sam, no, Sam, _wait_!" He said to her, but she was already at the door, opening it, the light of the lamp in the living room enlightened her features. Her eyes were sparkling angrily, but he couldn't miss that they were also watering. Freddie jumped up and grabbed her hand.

"Sam, I wasn't laughing at you." He said truthfully.

"Of course you were! A great best friend that I have there. I tell you how I feel and you just laugh at me. And now _let go of me_!" She struggled to get free.

"Listen, I wasn't laughing at you, I'm serious!" Freddie held her arm even tighter. He had worked out over the years and could easily pin her down, holding her was not easy, but he could manage that. Sam growled at him.

"Sam, I just thought, if you wanted to get rid of your nightmares you'd have to do this right!"  
She stared at him, obviously confused.

"We were cuddling last night..." he trailed off, giving her his half-smile that she loved.

"So?" She arched an eyebrow. She knew exactely what he wanted to say, but why not play dumb and let the stupid nub work a little more.

And of course, Sam's plan worked just fine.

Freddie was getting uncomfortable. "Er... well... I thought... we should... well..." He looked around the living room for help, biting his lip desperately.

Sam snorted. "Yeah, you're a hell of a man!" She said laughing. "Get back in there!"

Freddie smiled at her. Oh, how he loved that girl that could make his emotions change completely in a splitsecond. Yes, _love_. He was getting more and more sure about that, so he jumped under the covers, lifting them for her to crawl under and make herself comfy. To his surprise, she hadn't closed the door, so he could see her smiling the whole time while she was laying down next to him, face-to-face. Freddie let the covers fall down onto them and wrapped his arms around the tiny blonde. He frowned at her for she was laying too far away from him to get comfy himself, so he pulled her towards him close.

"Benson!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"What? It's not my fault you lie at the other side of the bed!" he said, grinning at her.

Sam snorted. "Sure."

But after a moment she snuggled deeper into his chest, inhaling his cinnamon and lemons-sent and wrapping her own arms around the boy.

No

, she told herself, _he's not a boy anymore. He's way to muscular for that... Where do those muscles come from anyway? _She thought, running her hand over his biceps absentmindedly.  
Freddie chuckled. "You like what you see, Puckett?"

Her head snapped up. "What?!"

He raised and eyebrow, giving her that goofy grin of his.

"Well... when did you get all... build up?" She asked quickly, looking back at his arms.

"Tss, yeah, you'd like to know." He said and she punched him.

"Tell me!"

"Ow! Sam!" He whisper-yelled at her, but was laughing at the same time. "I fence, you know? And from time to time Gib and I visit the gym." He said nonchalantly.

"From time to time?"

"All right, every monday and wednesday... And, before you hit me again, I fence on tuesdays and saturdays, all right?"

She looked back up at him, her eyes wide.

"You train that much? When? I mean, you're always at Carly's and-"

"When you were at your self-defense-lessons or when you're in detention and Carly was doing her homework and stuff."

Sam furrowed her eyebrows again. Then she punched him.  
"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"Ugh! you can't do this to me! You're all manly now! Nobody is a manly nub! Now I'll have to come up with new nicknames for you!"

Freddie smiled at her and she couldn't do different than smiling back at him, breaking her angry expression. It was an act and they both knew it, so why keep it up?  
"I'm sure that will be no problem for you." He grinned, grabbing his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Texting Carly you're sleeping over here. She's gonna freak if you're not in your bed tomorrow - oh. Well in a few hours." Sam grinned at him.

"What time is it?" She asked, yawning and stretching her limbs.

"4:30 in the morning. We should really get some sleep, who knows how long it's gonna last." Freddie said, putting his phone away and wrapping his strong arms around Sam. She shuddered at the touching of skin, warm against cold.

"Are you cold? Or uncomfortable?" Freddie asked, feeling the icy skin at her waist. She slapped his hand away and snuggled closer again.

"No, I'm just fine."


	8. Chapter 8

The assembly hall was of giant extent. Carly shouldn't have been surprised due to the two hundred agents that had been running through the command center, but still she had to admit that she was impressed. The brunette's jaw hang open for a second, how many people could be living in the Spot at the moment? She had never been good with guessing - that was one of the reasons why Freddie and Sam had won locker 239 and not her - but she supposed the hall could bare more than a thousand people! How could something that big have been built right below Seattle and nobody had noticed it? Weird, but that seemed to be the way that secret services worked.

Carly sat down next to Sam and Gibby on black chairs. They were arranged in neat rows, flanked by two sidewalks and a giant aisle in the middle. Agents kept streaming into the room and soon, Ben and Chester together with Melanie plopped down next to Sam. They greeted each other with short nods, knowing the seriousness of the meeting, while Melanie hugged Sam and Carly tightly, sat down next to Sam and intertwined their fingers. Sam glanced at their hands, then rolled her eyes, but Carly saw the little smirk that she couldn't completely save from escaping her lips. Carly grinned. She knew Sam loved Melanie just as much as Melanie loved her, but still - she had a reputation to lose! And even now Sam wasn't the girliest type.

Major Morris stepped up in front as everyone was seated or at least found a place to stand at the side or in the back. The talking died down immediately.

"Good afternoon agents, good afternoon everyone." The tall man with the dark hair and little scar under his right eye began. He looked around the hall, a serious expression on his face.

"I am glad that you have all made it here, you agents, but also you civilists, their families and friends." He shot a smile at the crowd. "Although, it pains me to say, that many of the other agents have not arrived here safely. They do not respond to their beepers anymore. It is unknown if they are alive or dead."

Morris waited for a moment, letting his eyes wander through the lines of pale faces.

"It will be a hard time for each and everyone of us. We will have lost friends, colleagues, maybe even family." A woman at the right side of Carly and Sam broke into tears, sobbing loudly, as a brown haired man tried to comfort her.

"But either way," the Major continued after shooting the woman a small sympathetic smile, "we will have to fight. We cannot leave that town and the people we love be destroyed and attacked by those monsters! Each and every one of the agents will head out. You are fine men and women and I expect no less from you than that you all give your best. For the ones who died and for the ones who can still be saved by our actions, we have to stand up to those aliens and defend what we love!" He yelled at the crowd, reaching his exact destination. The eyes that were looking at him were changing. At first hopeless and exhausted, they now turned into sparkling looks of determination. Determination to defend what was theirs and what they loved with all of their hearts, everyone had another motivation, but that didn't matter. The strong will to destroy the intruders that had hurt them so much was mutual.

"Fortunately, many of our most skilled agents, our own Special Force, has made it to the Spot and that is a huge advatage for us. Special Agents Anderson, Bennington, Garvey, Puckett, Pattinson, Shay, Wilson, Zambrani. It is a great pleasure to have you here."

Freddie, Spencer, Gibby and Melanie looked at them as if they had grown two heads. They were the Special Force?! The best of the best?! _Their_ friends?!

"You will each lead squads into the town and fight the intruders. We will need further information and protection, before we can figure out a way to destroy those creatures once and for all!" He punched his console and waited for a few moments to calm the upcoming riot.

"As for the civilists, "the man said again as calm as ever, "You are welcome to stay here and be safe. You will have to help with the daily life that is going on down here. But you can also decide if you want to join the squads of our agents that are going to fight. I know, it is dangerous, but due to the huge loss we have suffered, we need every man and woman we can get to help us up there." Morris looked around the hall for one last time then said:

"The squads will leave at 0-600 tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

It took them a moment, but then the sound of the moving of chairs could be heard and many voices could be heard, agents and civilists streamed out the hall. Carly and Sam, as well as Ben and Chester were among them. Reaching the sidestep Carly stopped and turned around, but behind her was only Sam.  
"Where are the others?" She asked her best friend.

"What?" Sam turned around. There was nobody behind her. She looked to their places and there they sat. Spencer, Freddie, Gibby and Melanie hadn't moved an inch since the assembly had been dismissed. They sat in their chairs and stared at the stage, Sam wasn't even sure whether they were blinking.

"Guys?" Carly yelled to them. No reaction.

"Guys!" She exclaimed, a little louder. They snapped out of it at once.

"What?"

"What's going on?"

"Yes, I'm sorry?"

"Huh?"

The four Special Agents looked at each other and then turned to look at the four civilists with furrowed eyebrows.

"You were kind of spacing out..." Carly said a slight smile attached to her lips.

"Looked pretty stupid." Sam mentioned, Carly elbowed her.

"Yeah, well..." Spencer mumbled.

"Now are you coming, or what?" Chester grinned at them.

"Sure!" Melanie jumped up, followed by the rest of the group, but of course Sam could tell that her sister and the others weren't comfortable with what they had heard at all. Something bothered them about it. She shrugged it off and took Melanies hand into hers. They would tell them eventually.

And they did. Oh and how they did.

As soon as they had made a turn and parted ways with Chester, Melanie and Ben Spencer spun around on his heels, facing the girls.

"You are _not_ going out there." He stated simply, but authorative.

Carly and Sam almost stumbled into him when they tried to stop. Then they furrowed their eyebrows.

"Yes we are." Sam said stubbornly.

"No you are not. I am the adult here and-"

"Spencer, we're 18."

"I don't care!" he yelled. "You two are not going out there with those other agents and get yourselves killed by trying to fight these maniacs up there!"

"Spencer..." Carly sighed.

"Dude, did you not just listen to Major Morris?" Sam asked. "We are the best they have! They can't go without us!"

"Well this Morris-guy should go then!" Freddie entered the argument.

"Tss, yeah sure. We're better than him." Sam stated simply.

Gibby looked at her disbelievingly. "You? Better than that giant man? Yeah sure."

"Want me to show you?" Sam asked aggressively.

"No..." Gibby gulped.

"See?" Carly said. "They cannot go without us. And we swore an oath that we would defend the thing no matter what!"

"The thing? Which thing?" Spencer asked angrily.

"Th-There is a thing under the city that needs to be protected." Carly stuttered, not sure how much she should tell.

"What could that be, a dragon?" Freddie chuckled at her.

"No. New technology, geek." Sam said harshly, she felt as if she had to defend Carly.

"New technology? What new technology?" Great. Now they had him fired up. As soon as there was new technology in the world the dorky boy was immediately on fire, dying to learn everything about it.

"... It's a transmitter."

"A transmitter?"

"The world's first Warp-Transmitter." Carly sighed. She would be in trouble if anyone found out she had told them, but since they had gotten into the boy's small appartment she felt safe enough to do so.

"Stop the Galaxy Wars-Talk, Carls." Freddie said, starting to get annoyed as well.

"She's not talking your stupid nerd-language!" Sam hissed, her eyes had become slids and she glared at him. "This really _is_ the first Warp-Transmitter that would offer us incredible possibilities! For Traveling, Science and, well, even for battle. That new technology has been worked on for about 30 years and finally there seems to be a success."

"What would those aliens want with it? I mean, they have already travelled here, haven't they? They must have some kind of warp-system themselves, right?" Gibby asked. The boy could ask intelligent questions, Sam was surprised.

"Yes, Gib, they do, but theirs is different. It's not as effective. It has taken them several years to reach earth. They have been watching our scientists and wanted to trade with the government..." Carly trailed off.

"What happened?" Freddie mouthed quietly.

"Well _this_ happened, Dorkward!" Sam exclaimed as if it was obvious. "Those stupid government guys weren't very clever in negotiating, they messed up and now those stupid aliens attack Seattle to take what they want themselves!"

The blonde girl slumped down on the couch and put her face in her hands.

"This is why we need to defend it. If those aliens get their slimy long fingers on it, we're all dead." Carly turned to her older brother. "Spencer, we _have to go_ and fight! If we can only make a slight difference, maybe it's an essential one." She looked at him with sad eyes. "Please understand." She whispered.

Spencer sat down in an armchair. He gulped and was breathing deeply to calm himself down. How could he decide that? Weighing the world's fate against his little sisters' lives? That was inhumane! He stared at the small coffee table and shook his head slowly.

"We're going with you."

Everyone looked around surprised.

Freddie just stood there, leaning against the door that lead to the hallway.

"What?!" Carly and Sam said simultaneously.  
"Well, **I** am going with you. I won't sit around and fear for your lives." He said, pushing himself off the door and standing upright, emphasizing his point.

"You are _not._" Came Sam's voice out of her mouth. It was icy. She got up from her place on the couch slowly.

Freddie looked at her weirdly. "Yes, I am."

"Benson, you are not going out there!" Her voice rose.

"Yes, Sam, I am!" She growled at him deeply and the scariest Carly and the boys had ever heard.

"You stupid nub!" She made her way over to him, fuming. "You think you can just go out there and run around like any other day?! It is _dangerous_ out there! You're only going to get yourself killed! I-" She gulped desperately, "I promised your Mom, Benson! I _promised_ her you'd stay safe!" She roared at him. Carly had never seen Sam so out of her mind about anything.

Freddie had stepped back and was now pressed against the wall. Carly thought he would give in before Sam could rip his head off, but instead he took a step forward and yelled back at her, the same fury and desperation in his eyes.

"I am going out there with you, Sam! There is nothing you can do about it! I have decided not to let my friends die if there could be anything I could do to save them! You may have promised my Mom that I'd be safe, but you are about to break your promise to her anyway! You promised her that you, too, would stay safe! I will not let you two die out there without me, Puckett! You guys are what makes my life awesome..." He had gotten more and more quiet until he was only whispering the last sentence and he was looking to the ground. If he was embarrassed by his outburst or by what he said, Carly couldn't tell, but her eyes began to water slightly as she heard those last words from Freddie. She smiled softly at him.

Sam's eyes had gotten wide. She had taken several steps back, because with every sentence that followed, Freddie had made another step towards her. Sam gulped, trying not to let her fear, her guilt and her desperation show.  
"But- But I promised her." She said quietly, her voice almost squeaky.

The brunette boy looked at her. Slowly, he took her hand. "It will be okay, Sam." He whispered and eventually, she looked him in the eyes.

"We will make it." He whispered and pulled her into a hug. Sam squeezed her eyes tightly, not wanting the tears that had been forming to be seen or even fall. She snuggled closer into his chest and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

Carly, Gibby and Spencer smiled at the scene before them. They knew that those two meant so much more to each other than they would ever admit to anyone. They weren't even sure, that those two knew it themselves.

"If Freddie's going, I'm going too." Spencer said and Gibby nodded.  
"Me too."

Carly smiled at them lovingly. "I appreciate your offers, guys, but you don't have to do that. It would be better, if you just stayed here."

Gibby and Spencer gave her a look. "You are going. We are going." Gibby said.

"Simple mathematics." Spencer added, high fiving Gibby.

Carly sighed. "Fine. But you'll have to go to the training rooms, sign up and get yourself tested."

"Tested? Again?" Gibby asked. Sam snorted at his question. She and Freddie had released their hug, now standing side by side, shoulders slightly touching.

"Not that kind of test, you idiot!" She said smirking.

"You're being tested if you can survive and be helpful up there. If not, you're not going. The SFAC is not going to send you to your deaths." Carly explained and the boys nodded. That sounded at least like s_ome_ logic.

"All right, let's go then. Better get started as soon as possible." Freddie said. Spencer got out of his seat and Gibby smiled reassuringly at Carly.

Sam grabbed Freddie's sleeve.

Please mess up?

No chance.

Sam sighed and Freddie grinned, having won the silent conversation. Then he turned and left the room with the boys.

Unfortunately the three boys had convinced the staff of the trainingroom and the civilist's Try-Out and had been equipped with a gun and two knifes each, a little first aid kit and a SFAC-uniform. The girls had clenched their jaws as the boys had entered their room, smiling broadly at them, proud to have been picked. Carly and Sam had had a little hope that their friends could stay safe, but of course even that little bit of luck had been denied. They had sighed simultaneously, glanced at the other and then half-heartedly congratulated the boys.

Now they were standing in the assembly hall together with all the other agents and picked out civilists. The other agents had backed away and formed a corridor for Carly and Sam to walk through, they were highly respected, being the youngest Special Agents in the SFAC.

"Good morning." Morris said at his conducter's stand on stage. "I'll make this quick. Special Agents Puckett and Shay, pick your groupmembers and leave immediately. Special Agents Bennington and Pattinson, you too. Special Agents Wilson and Zambroni and Anderson and Garvey, you too. You will be our special forces as usual. You'll get direct order from the HQ." he looked directly at Sam and Carly and a broke into a grin. "For now, just kick their butts as hard as you can." Carly and Sam grinned back at Morris and immediately turned around, as did Chester and Ben several metres away from him.

"Benson, Shay, Gibson!" Sam yelled. "Go!"

The boys looked confused, why was the girl yelling in an official meeting?  
"The Headquarters need to know wich we pick as our group." Carly explained quietly, looking at their faces, then she speed-walked after Sam.

Sam was the first to reach the elevator, where Ben and Chester were already standing with a little group of men and women of all ages around them.

"You've been to see Melanie?" Chester asked Sam. She nodded.

"Just before we left for the assembly." Chester nodded. Sam sighed. "She doesn't like it that we're leaving. I think she hates us..." Again, the dirty blonde boy nodded.

"I think so too. But who wouldn't? At least, she's safe." He gulped. They stepped into the elevator.

As the woman's voice announced they were at the top floor, Carly hugged Ben tightly. The tall man squeezed her back. "Good luck, you guys." Carly said sadly. She knew, this could be the last time they saw each other.

Ben nodded. "You, too. Stay safe." Then he hugged Sam, while Carly turned to Chester, saying goodbye to him.

"Don't you dare to die!" Sam whispered in their ears and squeezed the men tightly.

"We love you." Carly smiled at them, a tear escaping her eyes. Sam bit her trembling lip.

"Love you, too." Ben and Chester smiled sympathetically.

They stepped out of the elevator and into the dark town of Seattle.


End file.
